


Sglobe

by hetawholockvengerstuck



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers, Homestuck
Genre: Crossover, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, basically all the characters of homestuck, textlog heavy, with some missing hetalians
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-01
Updated: 2013-02-09
Packaged: 2017-11-24 00:06:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/628043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hetawholockvengerstuck/pseuds/hetawholockvengerstuck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(On hiatus; will be heavily edited before next updates)</p><p>The Hetalia characters play Sglobe, a version of Sburb. But are they prepared for the horrors of the Medium? And how will the Homestuck characters react when they find newcomers in their sessions? </p><p>Hetastuck Crossover, very textlog heavy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

~Somewhere in Canada~

Matthew Williams breathed in the scent of lavender and honey as he walked through his garden, a biscuit in one hand and the other tucked in his pocket. It was a wonderfully clear summer morning, perfect for the activity which he was currently partaking in.

Canada, for he was the nation itself, enjoyed these morning walks. And since he would be spending the next few hours inside, he figured he might as well enjoy the fresh air for a bit.

Inside the house, Canada’s phone began ringing. He sighed and rolled his eyes before finishing off his biscuit and heading inside.

He was greeted by an affectionate Kumajiro, his pet polar bear. The phone had stopped ringing, but now Matthew’s laptop was sounding its message notification. He plopped himself in a chair and logged onto his chat client.

One notification. And, as Canada had expected, it was from his brother.

_freedomBurger began pestering mapleVeranda_

FB: Yo Mattie wassup why u no answer ur phone?  
MV: Morning, Alfred.  
FB: Hey bro where u been?  
MV: I was taking a walk in the garden, like always.  
FB: But today’s th day we play th game bro!

Matthew sighed and rubbed his temples. He hated that his brother always had to type in shorthand. He had a full keyboard and a lot of characters for each message, so why didn’t he use them?

MV: Yes, and I wanted to experience nature a bit before being sucked into the video game world.  
FB: Yeah whatevs r u ready 2 play Sglobe yet?  
MV: Sure. How do I get started?  
FB: Have u installed th game yet?  
MV: Yes.  
FB: Good then click th client thingy 4 now u get 2 b th server player l8ter.  
MV: Alfred could you please not type shorthand? It’s hard to read.  
FB: LOL noob.

Canada clicked the client icon on his desktop and waited for the loading screen to finish. It was slightly hypnotic.

Finally, the screen cleared, and Canada found himself looking at his chatlog again.

MV: Now what?

Suddenly, something moved in Canada’s peripheral vision. Hovering inches away from his head was a blue house, exactly like the cursor in the game.

“Ah!” Canada fell out of his chair, knocking his head painfully against the floor. He heard his laptop notify him.

FB: LOL dude u shoulda seen ur face!  
MV: What is this thing?  
FB: It’s th game cursor! I have 2 interact with ur house!  
MV: Oh maple…

Out of nowhere, a large machine appeared, attached to the blue cursor. It was placed gently in front of the fireplace.

FB: That’s the Cruxtruder.  
MV: What’s it for?  
FB: It’s 2 get ur kernel. But first we have 2 open it.

The cursor moved through the air and picked up a sofa.

“What the heck?” Canada cried. The sofa dropped from the cursor and slammed against the top of the Cruxtruder, bounding off as if it were a slinky, and landing with a crushing blow atop Kumajiro’s head.

“Kumajiro!” Canada yelled. He knelt down and heaved the broken furniture off his pet, but it was too late—the polar bear was dead.

The phone rang. 

“Hey, Mattie, thought it would be easier to talk like this!” Alfred’s voice was an unwelcome sound. “Sorry about Kumajiro, though. I didn’t think it would do that!”

“You KILLED my pet!” Matthew growled.

“Look, I said I was sorry! But we can’t doddle, doodle, there’s a countdown thingamabob. See?”

Canada inspected the Cruxtruder; there was indeed a countdown, though to what he did not know. And that wasn’t the only difference. There was now a flashing dark blue light following him.

“What do I do now?” he asked.

“According to the walkthrough, you have to prototype it.”

“Which means?”

“Throw an object in or something.”

Matthew cast about for something suitable to throw at the kernel. His eyes fell on a near-by pair of mittens.

Once thrown into the kernel, there was a flash of light, and the kernel became a floating pair of mittens.

“Now do it again, but with something cooler!” America shouted through the phone.

“Are you trying to deafen me?” Canada asked. But there was nothing ‘cooler’ to throw into the kernel. Except…

“Sorry, Kumajiro.” 

Canada lifted the dead body of his pet, and gently tipped it into the kernel. Another flash of light, and there was a ghostly polar bear wearing mittens.

“Hello Canada!” it said.

“Kumajiro!” 

“Good!” America said through the phone. Canada turned it on speaker to avoid another ear-splitting experience. “Now we can move past the death of the pet. There should be a cruxite dowel in the Cruxtruder. Go grab it.”

Canada did so, and immediately something fell on top of his head.

“What…?” The object slid from his head onto his hand, revealing itself to be a pre-punched card. It was a bit like the cards Matthew had received with his game, the ones with items, and the ones he had been able to put items on. This particular hole-punched card featured an apple.

“What am I supposed to do with this, Alfred?”

There were horrendous thuds upstairs; the cursor was missing from the room.

“Oh no…”

Upstairs, Canada found more giant contraptions. Alfred told him the names: Alchemiter, Totem Lathe.

A beep. Matthew sighed; he had left his upstairs laptop on, too, and someone else was bothering him.

“Alfred, could you hold on a second?”

“Sure, just give me the card and the dowel!”

The cursor picked each item up, and Canada attended to his notifications.

_centaursTesticle started trolling mapleVeranda_

CT: D--> Your actions are f001ish. There is e%actly a 0% chance that you will succeed in your endeavour.  
MV: I’m going to assume that said zero percent, and not ox.  
CT: What is an o%.  
MV: I don’t have time for this right now, I’m sorry.  
CT: No wait. I have important information for you.  
MV: Look, I really need to be going. I’ll talk to you later, okay?

_mapleVeranda has ceased pestering centaursTesticle_

“Sorry, Alfred, just another troll. Where were we?”

“I’ve inserted the card into the totem lathe. See that vase-looking thing?”

Canada picked it up. “This?”

“Yeah. Go put that on the stand attached to the Alchemiter. It should create an item to allow you entry into Sglobe.”

“This game is sounding weirder and weirder…”

“Hey Mattie, I’m gonna have to…breaking up…shit, that wasn’t…BYE!”

With a final yell, America hung up the phone, leaving Canada by himself. He sighed for what seemed like the fiftieth time and did as he had been instructed. An apple appeared on the Alchemiter.

“Now what am I supposed to do with this?” he wondered.

“Bite it!” Kumasprite said. Hesitantly, the Canadian ate a morsel of apple.

Suddenly, the surrounding world went dark; only outlines of things could be seen, and in the next moment, even those disappeared.

**~Be Alfred Jones~**

“Damn phone,” the American boy said. He shoved the device in his bomber jacket pocket and turned his attention instead to the computer in front of him. He was waiting for two things: his brother to appear in the game, or his own server player to contact him. 

There were 20 players participating in the session, and America himself had worked out the order of client/server players. He had already brought Canada into the game; if all went according to plan, this portion of the journey would conclude with Canada bringing in France. 

_britishWizard began pestering freedomBurger_

Finally. 

BW: Have you got the client installed?  
FB: Course I do! And your late!  
BW: *You’re. And I am not bloody late, I’m right on time!  
FB: Well I was done with Mattie so u should a bin ready!  
BW: Just shut up and let me work here. Go prototype the sprite or something. 

Alfred grinned; here was the part that he had been preparing for. He grabbed a miniature statuette of the Statue of Liberty and tossed it into the glowing red kernel. When it had manifested, he added his personal favourite: a preserved alien body, which he had named ‘Tony’. 

The Tonysprite sported the alien’s head and the statue’s crown. In other words, freaking awesome. 

“Prototyped to the max!” 

****FB: K now what  
BW: That thing looks atrocious.  
FB: Hey he’s my buddy!  
BW: It’s ridiculous. Now go get your item. 

A pre-punched card fell into America’s lap, drawing his attention. Next to the desk where he sat was the Alchemiter, and next to that was the totem lathe. When the totem was alchemized, it became a bouncing baseball. 

America grinned and picked up his bat. Of all the weapons he could have chosen, batkind sounded the most badass. 

He swung at the baseball, but it bounced just out of reach. He swung again, and ended up breaking a vase England had bought him for Christmas. A notification sounded from the computer; he must have seen the destruction. 

Another go, and the glass in front of the fireplace shattered. Fourth try was the charm; brilliant light shot from the recreational object, and the medium took over the house. 

Outside, an observer would have witnessed the complete disappearance of a colonial mansion and its surrounding plantation. 

**~Be an outside observer~**

The pattern continued as follows: 

After America entered Sglobe, it was England’s turn. He prototyped his sprite with the dead body of a small fairy and a unicorn figurine, leading to a very strange-looking fairycorn. His server player, Japan, created a sprite with a Hatsune Miku plushie and a pair of chopsticks. Then China prototyped with a Shinatty-chan doll and the body of a panda that was killed accidentally in a totem lathe complication. Russia’s was perhaps the saddest sprite; after the initial prototyping of an old ballerina music box, he prototyped it with a dead body. Ukraine had visited his house at an inopportune time, and when the house entered the medium she was immediately killed by a backstabbing imp. Thus she became her younger brother’s guide. 

After witnessing that, it was hard for Belarus to continue, but the desire to be at her brother’s side was enough to convince her. She threw in a matryoshka doll and a handkerchief. Lithuania had a soldier figurine from his time as a servant in America’s house; he ended up prototyping only once. Greece woke up from his nap in time to help Lithuania into the medium and to throw a couple of cats into his kernel. Spain added a tomato and pair of bull horns he had lying around. Romano also had a tomato, and he threw in an angel statue. Italy prototyped with a bowl of pasta and the ashes of Grandpa Rome. Germany did the same with some old clothing lying around, and ended up with a kernelsprite of Holy Roman Empire. Prussia chose old clothing, too; in the end, he had Old Fritz wearing his Teutonic Order attire. Austria, after antagonizing Prussia over his choice of kernelsprite, forced a freshly baked cake and a portrait of the Empress Maria Theresa into his own kernel. From there, Hungary prototyped with a few kitchen utensils, nothing of great importance. Liechtenstein chose a doll and a dead rabbit she had yet to bury. As the clock ticked down to destruction, she was helped into the game by her brother, who threw in a couple of cheeses. Just in time, the loop was completed by France and his Joan of Arc-wearing –a-maid-dress kernel. 

******~Be Romano~** ** **

“Damn imps!” Romano yelled, fending off another one with a lamp. The stupid things had been coming at him non-stop since he’d entered the medium, and he was beginning to get extremely tired. “How the hell am I supposed to reach my gate if I can’t even take a breather!” 

Through his alchemized headset, Romano heard Italy’s voice. “I’m working on building up the house, fratello, but Germany is going to connect with me soon!” 

“Stupid potato bastard ruins everything!” 

“Would you like me to tell him to wait?” 

“No!” By this time, the players had realized the impending doom that awaited anyone left on earth. “Just forget about me. Get in the game and then I’ll deal with that bastard.” 

“Okay…” 

The headset went quiet, and, miraculously, the imps stopped coming. Romano set the lamp down and collapsed against the wall of his room. 

“What kind of crap game is this?” he wondered aloud. Then his headset beeped; someone was contacting him through the chat client. Pressing a button on the headset, Romano brought up a screen. He dictated his message and watched as it was recorded on the chat client. 

_tomatoArmada began pestering pizzaPiazza_

****TA: Lovi~ I need your help~  
PP: I was busy, dammit! What do you need?  
TA: I can’t reach my gate! It’s too high up and there are imps surrounding the place. I’m holed up in my room at the moment.  
PP: Can’t you do anything beer shelf?  
PP: Crap sorry meant by yourself my voice recognition is a bit off.  
TA: Haha~ I still need to alchemize something like that.  
PP: Well I put the machine in your room why aren’t you working on that?  
TA: Didn’t think of it~  
PP: And that is why you are still stuck in your room, dependant on me to save your sorry ass! Besides, you fight with a battleaxe! I only have this pathetic lamp.  
TA: Fusoso~ How cute.  
PP: Shove it. Let me see if I can build your house. 

_pizzaPiazza ceased pestering tomatoArmada_

**~Be Denmark~**

Leader. That was what Denmark was calling himself. Leader of Group 2. 

Group 1 was already in the game, with their twenty or so players. They had moved a lot faster than anticipated. But what that ‘first’ group didn’t realize was that Group 2 has entered the game a full day before schedule. 

It had all been Denmark’s idea, of course. He wanted a head start. If he was going to beat the game faster than America’s team, he wanted to use every available means to get there. No one had said it was against the rules to enter early. 

So Group 2—which consisted of Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Latvia, Netherlands, Belgium, Sealand, Monaco, Estonia, Turkey, Egypt, Australia, Poland and Korea—had entered, and worked their way up their echeladders. They had reached their gates and entered their worlds, and one had even reached God Tier. It irked Denmark a bit to think that Monaco had already surpassed him. But it was helpful having a Seer of Light, even if she was on LOBAG, the Land of Books and Glasses. 

Denmark himself was currently on his planet, LOTAC, the Land of Teal and Cages. What Teal had to do with anything was beyond him. Now he needed to find his Quest Bed. 

From the moment he had learned of God Tier, Denmark had made it his goal to achieve it, no matter the cost. He wanted desperately to have amazing powers, and he couldn’t live with not knowing what he was meant to be. 

Everyone in his group had alchemized portable computers of various shapes and sizes. Now Denmark’s phone-shaped, Danish-flag-patterned computer beeped. 

_carcinoGeneticist began trolling vikingBerserker_

****CG: HEY DUMBASS WHY ARE YOU STILL DILLYDALLYING  
CG: GET ON WITH IT.  
VB: Whoa cool it. I was just about to find my Quest Bed.  
CG: WHAT WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT YOU HAVE TO FUCKING DIE  
VB: Are death threats really needed right now?  
CG: NO ITS NOT A DEATH THREAT TO ASCEND GOD TIER YOU HAVE TO ACTUALLY FUCKING DIE  
CG: ITS HOW THINGS WORK  
VB: Oh. That seems counterproductive.  
VB: Wait, does that mean…  
CG: THAT YOUR LITTLE SEER DIED?  
CG: YES. YES SHE DID.  
CG: SHE DID SO UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF AN EXPERIENCED SEER OF LIGHT  
CG: SHE WAS A LOT SAFER THAN YOU WILL BE.  
VB: Have a little faith! I’m sure you won’t lead me astray.  
CG: YOU DON’T KNOW ME  
CG: I FUCK EVERYTHING UP LIKE A DAMN WIGGLER  
VB: What’s a wiggler?  
CG: LOOK ITS NOT IMPORTANT  
CG: THE POINT IS IF YOU TRY TO ASCEND GOD TIER THERE IS A VERY BIG CHANCE YOU WONT MAKE IT  
CG: I NEVER GOT THERE  
CG: THINK ON THAT FOR A WHILE  
CG: I’LL COME BACK LATER ON YOUR TIMELINE AND SEE WHAT YOUR THOUGHTS ARE  
CG: JUST DON’T MESS UP 

_carcinoGeneticist ceased trolling vikingBerserker_

Denmark slid the phone back over the keyboard and smiled. A challenge, hm? Well, Mathias Køhler was not one to back down from a challenge, especially if it meant a sweet prize at the end. If anything, CG’s words had only increased the desire in Denmark to ascend God Tier. 

If only CG would mention his own God Tier. Presumably, from what had been said in previous conversations, CG and Denmark had the same God Tier. Perhaps that was why the guy—or maybe a girl?—had taken such a shining to Denmark. 

Either way, as Denmark scaled another gigantic cage, there was not a doubt in his mind that ascension was the right thing to do. 

******~Be Austria~** ** **

“This, I hope, has displayed my annoyance at you accurately,” Austria said, waving a hand and vanishing the piano to his strife specibus once more. There were no imps in the surrounding area—at least, not anymore. After a long and energetic concert in which much Chopin was played, the imps had all been slaughtered, and grist of all kinds was simply lying around, waiting to be retrieved. 

Austria’s portable computer beeped in his pocket. He drew it out and pressed a button on the side of the shiny black rectangle; a screen appeared above it, and the box itself hovered and expanded, growing many white keys and black keys until it resembled a piano. Each key was engraved with a letter of symbol like a keyboard. Austria pressed the arrow keys to navigate his cursor and opened the chat client. His fingers flew over the keys as he typed. 

_paprikaRebellion began pestering vienneseVirtuoso_

PR: I’ve built your house up to the gate, Roddy!  
VV: Thank you. Is there an elevator?  
PR: Um, no, sorry.  
VV: I guess I’ll just have to climb all those stairs then…  
PR: I could try picking you up. 

A blue cursor appeared in front of Austria and began poking him incessantly. 

VV: Elizaveta, stop this nonsense right now!  
PR: Sorry! I guess it was a stupid idea.  
VV: Yes, it was. But worth trying. If that is all, I will proceed to the gate now.  
PR: Good luck! 

_paprikaRebellion ceased pestering vienneseVirtuoso  
beilschmidtSuckerpunch began pestering vienneseVirtuoso_

BS: Hey pretty-boy why aren’t you building my house up.  
VV: I’m busy, Gilbert.  
BS: Bullshit.  
VV: Speaking of such crude terms, you do realize what your chat abbreviation looks like?  
BS: Oh shit.  
VV: I told you the name was horrendous. Not even creative. Look at anyone else and you’ll see a well-thought out name, easy on the tongue and elegant to the ears.  
VV: Yours, on the other hand, looks as if it were thought up by a ten-year-old.  
BS: Well listen to Mr. Hottentott, all high and mighty. It would have been more accurate to call yourself freeloadingVirtuoso.  
VV: We are not here to argue about the merits of a good username.  
BS: Damn right we’re not. When can you take a break from slaying monsters?  
VV: I’m going to ascend to the gate now.  
BS: Good then you have time to build.  
VV: I don’t really feel like it right now. Perhaps when I take a break from climbing.  
BS: WHAT!?  
BS: You lazy dumbass, no-good, self-centered pinprick!  
VV: Please stop describing yourself, I can see you clearly on my screen.  
BS: IDIOT I’M REFERRING TO YOU!  
VV: Goodbye, Gilbert. I may or may not contact you later. 

_vienneseVirtuoso has blocked beilschmidtSuckerpunch_

The keyboard shrank back into the black rectangle and was pocketed. Sighing, Austria sized up the seemingly countless flights of stairs. It was going to be a very long climb to the top. 


	2. Chapter 2

**~Be Denmark~**

Denmark wiped his brow as he reached the top of the ridiculously long flight of stairs leading up to his Quest Bed. It didn't look particularly comfortable; it was basically a large stone slab with a strange symbol on it that sort of looked like a bleeding wound. Sort of.

He cautiously approached the slab and sat on it. Nothing happened. He stretched out on it and tried to be comfortable. Still nothing. It was beginning to look like CG was right. 

A flutter of wings and a buffeting of wind told Denmark that he was not alone. He rolled over, clutching his double-bladed battleaxe, and located the other presence.

“Mona!” Denmark lowered his weapon. The Seer of Light approached his bed in an orange tunic and yellow leggings, and delicate pink wings.

“Hello, Mathias. God Tiering, I suppose?” she said. 

Denmark nodded. “I couldn’t let you have all the glory. But, hey, I’m not gonna have wings, am I?” He regarded the fairy wings with disdain.

Monaco laughed. “No, it was a personal choice. You have limited input on the design of your God Tier costume, and I thought the wings looked good. And this tunic is a bit shorter than the default. Usually it passes the knees. My patron wears one that reaches her ankles.”

“Patron? That’s the other Seer of Light, correct?”

“Yes. Her name is Rose. She’s been extremely informative. For example, you remember the countdown?”

“Sure I do.”

“It did have a meaning. It was counting down to the destruction of the earth. We entered early, so we didn’t have a chance to witness it, but when we entered the medium, we physically brought out homes and anyone in them into the game. Even if there was a way to go back, which I doubt, we would find nothing.”

Denmark wrapped his arms around his knees. “So we caused the end of the world.”

“Not at all. It would have happened regardless. We simply escaped death through Sglobe.”

Denmark perked up. “But what about God Tier? How do I go about it?”

Monaco smiled. “You have to die.”

“Yeah, I know. But is there a special way?”

“I can help, if you like. Just stay on the bed, and give me your axe. I’ll try to make it as quick as possible.”

His heart pounding in his chest, Denmark passed over his weapon and lay back on the bed. He tried to look anywhere but Monaco, but his eyes kept sliding back to his axe.

Monaco hesitated for a moment, the axe balanced precariously over her head. Before she could bring it down, a blue blur flashed over Denmark and the Seer was sent sprawling. The axe slid across the plateau and came to a stop at the edge, moments away from tipping off.

Once it had stopped moving, Denmark saw that the blur was Norway. The smaller blond man had Monaco pinned to the ground.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Norway asked in a cool voice, emotionless but obviously angry all the same. 

“Lukas, let her go! She was only trying to help!”

“By murdering you? What are you playing at, Mathias.” It was a question, but voiced as a statement.

“She was just trying to help me make God Tier. She’s supposed to kill me! Now get off her!”

Norway hesitated, but did as he was told. He kept an eye on Monaco as she retrieved the axe.

“Are you sure about this, Denmark? I get a feeling that Mona isn’t quite the same.”

“She’s stronger now. And I’m meant to do this, Norway. Just let it happen.”

Monaco returned. “Are you ready?”

Denmark nodded; Norway backed off, unable to watch. This time, when Monaco brought the blade down, it hit its mark.

**~Be England~**

“Can you wait five minutes?” England muttered to himself as his phonetop vibrated again. He slew the last of the imps in his immediate vicinity and retreated to the cover of his porch, taking out the phone and pressing a button on the side. The phone elongated and became a laptop.

_freedomBurger began pestering britishWizard_

FB: yo dude can we start building up my house?  
FB: dude cmon give me a sweet apartment  
FB: england  
FB: england  
FB: england  
FB: england

_britishWizard began pestering freedomBurger_

BW: By Jove, have you no patience?  
FB: england!  
BW: I was busy! This whole game does not revolve around you!  
FB: Can u start building now?  
BW: Were you even listening to me?!  
FB: Nope!  
BW: Well, at least you’re using capitalization now.  
FB: sry what was that?  
BW: Damn you.

_britishWizard has blocked freedomBurger_

_caligulasAquarium began trolling britishWizard_

CA: hello fellow wwizard  
BW: Fellow wizard?  
CA: yes  
CA: by your trollian handle it is evvident that you are a wwizard  
BW: What is a trollian handle?  
CA: its like your chumhandle  
BW: Oh. Well, yes, I am a wizard. I practice dark magic.  
CA: ya mean TRUEST SCIENCES  
BW: No, I mean DARK MAGIC.  
CA: wwhatevver  
CA: i did not come here to discuss the definition of wwizardy wwith ya  
CA: im here because i wwas wwonderin if you wwould be wwillin to join me in a redrom relationship  
BW: Pardon?  
CA: i know wwe dont knoww each other that wwell yet but givve it some time  
CA: i wwould offer you a blackrom relationship but i don’t wwant to intrude on your blackrom wwith the one you call america  
BW: Blackrom? Redrom? None of this is making sense.  
CA: redrom is like your kind of romance  
CA: blackrom is wwhen ya hate somebody but youre still attracted to them  
CA: like you and america  
BW: WHAT?!  
BW: That’s not how it is at all! I don’t hate him! And I most certainly am not attracted to him!  
CA: your exchanges wwith him ovver pesterchum beg to differ  
BW: He’s a pain in the ass, that’s all!  
BW: Besides, I could never feel romantic feelings towards him! He’s my brother! I raised him, for God’s sake!  
CA: so  
BW: No.   
BW: Please tell me you did not seriously say that.  
CA: is this a demonstration a the human concept a incest  
BW: This is getting worse by the minute.  
CA: my race doesnt have such a concept  
CA: the wway wwere born makes that impossible  
CA: wwe wwould all be siblings then  
BW: This is now a thing we are not talking about.  
BW: The bottom line is, America is my brother, and I have no romantic feelings for him!  
CA: is that true  
BW: Yes!  
CA: only i havve your life displayed in front a me and i see no evvidence that the two a you are related  
BW: Maybe not by blood, but I raised him as my brother.  
BW: No matter how much he’s changed, I’ll always see my baby brother when I look at him.  
BW: So there is no ‘blackrom’ between us!  
CA: oh  
CA: in that case  
CA: wwhy not enter into a blackrom wwith me

_britishWizard blocked caligulasAquarium_

With a growl, England moved to pocket his phonetop. Before he shrank it, though, he hesitated. 

_britishWizard has unblocked freedomBurger_

**~Be Prussia~**

“Damn it…stupid Austrian…” Prussia clung onto his right arm, trying to quell the bleeding. Despite his best efforts, the prolonged period of time attempting to ascend to his gate had forced him to fight bigger and stronger imps. And there was still no cursor building up his house. 

Prussia made a tactical retreat to his library of journals, locking the door and grabbing the flashlight he had hidden behind a stack of war journals. There should be medical supplies here somewhere…

Oh, right, they were at the very back. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Well, if Austria wasn’t going to help, Prussia thought he knew a few other people who might. He slumped against one shelf, getting blood all over the journals, and wrestled his phone out of his pocket. Before turning the device on, he grabbed one of the newer journals and ripped out a few pages (wincing as he did so), then slipped his Iron Cross necklace from around his neck and used the string to sloppily tie the bundle of papers over his wound. It would do, for now.

It was awkward, texting with one hand. But he’d done it before. Admittedly, his hand hadn’t been shaking quite so much.

_beilschmidtSuckerpunch began pestering paprikaRebellion_

BS: Liz I need your help.  
PR: What did you do now, Gil?  
BS: Roderich’s minding his own business and has refused to give a scheisse about me. My house is surrounded and full of oversized imps and they keep coming and they’re getting BIGGER. And my arm is bleeding like it’s a damn river of red. And I was stupid enough to put the first aid kid at the back of the library.  
BS: For all I know the imps got in here and took it.  
PR: Why isn’t Roderich helping? He’s just climbing now.  
BS: Ask him that! He won’t respond to any of my messages. Can you contact him for me?   
PR: Magic word?  
BS: Please.  
PR: Igen, I’ll talk to him.   
BS: Danke.

_paprikaRebellion ceased pestering beilschmidtSuckerpunch_

**~Be Hungary~**

_paprikaRebellion began pestering vienneseVirtuoso_

PR: Roderich, Gilbert’s in big trouble.  
PR: You need to stop and build his house up.  
PR: Roderich?  
VV: He can wait. I’m enjoying my stroll.  
PR: Roderich, he’s locked in his library and his arm is bleeding.  
VV: Wounds happen.  
PR: Austria, you help him right now or so help me I will drop all your sheet music in front of the imps.  
VV: You wouldn’t.  
PR: I would.  
VV: Nein, you wouldn’t. It’s a fact.  
PR: Okay, fine, but please help him. It’s your job as his server player. I know you two don’t get along, but do you really want him to die?  
VV: I admit you are right about that. Fine, I shall take a break from ascending and help out that loser.  
PR: Thank you!

_paprikaRebellion ceased pestering vienneseVirtuoso_

**~Be CA~**

You aren’t sure what that means. CA? Does that mean California?

Either way, you cannot be CA.

**~Fine. Be Prussia~**

The pages were soaked through, but Prussia was reluctant to rip pages out of the older journals. He cursed his poor foresight; he should have grabbed some journals to take with him. But they would have slowed him down, and right now his goal was to reach the end of this long room and bandage up his wound.

Why is it bleeding so much? He wondered. It hadn’t severed any arteries. Maybe the imps were wielding poison claws or something. It was entirely possible. 

How many years had passed? How long had he been recording his life? Surely, by now, he was near the end?

His phone buzzed in his pocket, but he couldn’t stop to check it right now. Just a little farther…

Prussia’s head bumped against a bookshelf. That was strange, he had thought he was going straight. Maybe navigating without the flashlight on was a bad idea. 

Already dizzy from loss of blood, the bump on the head was enough to knock his sense of direction to the other end of the room. He lay on the floor and removed his phone from his pocket. 

_So, Austria’s finally unblocked me._

_vienneseVirtuoso began pestering beilschmidtSuckerpunch_

VV: I’ve started building.  
BS: Dizzy  
BS: Get fa kit plz  
VV: Gilbert, please speak in coherent sentences.  
BS: Dizzy  
VV: You’ve said that.  
BS: Need 1st aid kit  
VV: Ah. And where would that be?  
BS: Back of room can u pick up and bring  
VV: I guess.

Something moved over Prussia’s head. There was a crashing sound from the other end of the room, and then the something came back and dropped a very heavy box on Prussia’s legs.

VV: There you go.  
BS: Nice aim  
VV: Just get your wound taken care of.

_vienneseVirtuoso ceased pestering beilschmidtSuckerpunch_

**~Be Japan~**

His hands worked furiously as he smashed buttons and tapped the screen with his stylus. Building up England’s house was hard work, but, Japan conceded, it was easier this way than using a mouse would have been. Even if he lost the stylus, Japan supposed he could use his hand.

The DS/computer had been a godsend. Here was something he knew how to use, two electronic devices made into one. No need for internet connection; he could apparently generate his own. It was very useful.

On the topscreen, Japan could see England chatting with someone on his computer. It looked like he was getting angrier and angrier. Then he sighed and put the computer away. Japan wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or not. 

It was worth the potential muscle ache in his hands to see England’s face when he noticed just how high his house was now. Japan chuckled to himself.

He pulled up a pictochat-like program that had been merged with pesterchum. Normally, he would have preferred to use his headset and call England, allowing him to continue building, but Japan needed a break from that.

_clockworkSamurai began pestering britishWizard_

CS: Perhaps you should start climbing, England-san.  
BW: Wow, quick work, Japan! I’m impressed!  
CS: It was nothing.  
BW: Thank you.

_clockworkSamurai ceased pestering britishWizard_

Japan snapped his DS shut and slid the stylus back into place. Up above, he periodically heard heavy thumps, which he assumed meant that China was at least attempting to build up his house. It was hard when he had to take breaks to fight imps. In addition, Japan’s house wasn’t meant to be more than two stories tall. It was taking a lot of careful planning to keep the whole structure from collapsing.

Suddenly, a notification sounded from the DS. With a sigh, Japan opened it up, simultaneously retrieving the stylus.

To his surprise, it was not England or China contacting him. It was Korea.

_kimchiGamer began pestering clockworkSamurai_

KG: Hey Japan! Guess who’s in the game!  
CS: Ah, yes. You were in the second group. It is good to see that you made it in time.  
KG: Yeah, no problem there!  
CS: Did your server player work fast?  
KG: Mostly. Hey, Aniki blocked me. Can you believe it?  
CS: I shall withhold my opinion.  
KG: So how’s it going? Has anyone gotten to God Tier yet?  
CS: What is God Tier?  
KG: Oh, you don’t know? I would have thought the trolls might have told you.  
KG: You…you do have…trolls, right?  
CS: I have not had to deal with one yet.  
KG: Oh…  
CS: But I have heard that Canada-san and England-san have been plagued with trolls.  
KG: Hm. I don’t know if you’re lucky or unlucky.  
KG: The trolls can be pretty rude, but they’re usually helpful.  
CS: I am afraid I have to go, Korea-kun. Please excuse me.  
 _clockworkSamurai ceased pestering kimchiGamer_

It was a lie; Japan had nothing else to do but wait for his house to be built. It was lucky that his gate was so much lower than his teammates’ gates.

**~Be Korea~**

Even before the pestering had ended, Korea knew he was in big trouble. He’d almost let slip the most important secret of all; heck, he might have actually done so. If the other team found out that Group 2 had entered the game before schedule, any achievements they might have gotten would be void. And knowing America, there would be some sort of punishment.

But more pressingly was the trouble that was bound to come from within his own team. Denmark kept tabs on everything; Korea expected to hear from him soon.

Yep, there was the little tune that signaled an incoming message. Korea reached into his messenger bag and pulled out a laptop covered in stickers, featuring band logos, online gaming symbols, and some stamps from around the world. He opened the laptop and moused over to Pesterchum.

To his surprise, it wasn’t Denmark contacting him.

_maskedOttoman began pestering kimchiGamer_

MO: What the hell are you doing  
KG: Talking to you.  
MO: You almost gave it away! If that idiot Greece knows I cheated, I’ll never hear the end of it, and if Japan finds out, it could ruin our friendship and tip the odds in favor of Greece! There are relationships as stake here!  
KG: Okay, I’m sorry.  
MO: You’d better be  
KG: But why are you berating me? Where’s Denmark?  
MO: He’s MIA. And I can’t contact Monaco either. Norway’s unresponsive. Sealand lost his phone. Sweden is not talking to anybody but Finland. It’s a mess and on top of all that, you had to jeopardize our positions!  
KG: I said I was sorry!

_kimchiGamer ceased pestering maskedOttoman_

_kimchiGamer started pestering vikingBerserker_

_vikingBerserker is unavailable right now_

Korea closed the computer and stowed it away again. Surely, Japan couldn't be having this much trouble with his group?

**~Be Prussia~**

His arm had stopped bleeding thanks to many layers of tightly-tied bandages, some poison-removal techniques, and ointment, but Austria was insisting on making the house both a masterpiece and something to do over time. Prussia stayed with his journals, reading a few entries, contemplating the probability of salvaging the bloodied pages, and wondering if he should maybe captchalogue a few. Who knew when he’d be able to get back to them.

He’d tried to contact his brother, but Germany had been too busy trying to guide Italy up the steps. France was busy fighting imps and catching up with Joan of Arc, and Hungary…well, Hungary had enough on her plate. Austria was refusing to fight imps unless he was taking one of his frequent breaks from building, and Hungary was forced to throw furniture around to keep him safe. If Austria hadn’t been his server player, Prussia would have just wanted to get rid of the guy. Even in a situation such as this, he was still a lazy freeloader.

A text message popped up on his phone.

From: Kiku Honda (Japan)

To: Alfred F. Jones (America), Matthew Williams (Canada), Antonio Fernandez Carriedo (Spain), Arthur Iggy Kirkland (England), Basch Zwingli (Switzerland), Elizaveta Hedervary (Hungary), Francis Bonnefoy (France), Gilbert Beilschmidt (Prussia), Heracles Karpusi (Greece), Ivan Braginski (Russia), Lili Zwingli (Liechtenstein), Lovino Vargas (South Italy), Ludwig Beilschmidt (Germany), Roderich Edelstein (Austria), Toris Laurinaitus (Lithuania), Feliciano Vargas (North Italy), Yao Wang (China)

Have heard from Group 2. Entrance was successful.

Prussia smiled. There was some good news, at least. Even if it was a competition, there was no fun if the other team was obliterated, right?

Another notification. Someone had opened a meme. No, wait, a memo.

_pandaCulinarian opened memo: Group 2_

PC: This is much faster and can include multiple people. It is good that Group 2 is safe. Japan, if you are reading this, who contacted you?  
 _clockworkSamurai responded to memo: Group 2_  
CS: I heard from Korea. If you are worried about Hong Kong, I can’t give you any guarantees.   
PC: Are you sure?  
CS: Korea told me that they got in fast, and they have been in contact with trolls.  
 _britishWizard responded to memo: Group 2  
mapleVeranda responded to memo: Group 2_  
BW: Did he say which trolls?  
MV: Which trolls?  
MV: Oh, sorry England.  
CS: He said nothing more than that. Except, he informed me that China had blocked him, and he hinted at a few things in store for us.  
BW: China, why did you block him?  
PC: He was bothering me.  
BW: And you didn’t see fit to inform us that Group 2 had made it in?  
PC: I wasn’t sure. Perhaps Korea had figured out a way to bring himself in. Or maybe I was getting late messages.  
MV: Late messages?  
PC: My phone lags sometimes.  
CS: Regardless, we should decide whether or not to continue the competition. This appears far more sinister than we believed it to be.  
BW: We didn’t know it was sinister before we started!  
 _freedomBurger responded to memo: Group 2_  
FB: th competition must go on! Heroes dont let hardships get in their way!  
CS: I am sorry for disagreeing, America-san, but I think working together may be a wiser option.  
 _beilschmidtSuckerpunch responded to memo: Group 2_  
BS: For the record, I vote to continue. Although I doubt my opinion matters much, since at this rate, Roderich will NEVER FINISH MY HOUSE!  
FB: dude, ur chat abbrev looks like bullshit  
BS: Cram it clowny.  
CS: I don’t understand that reference.  
BS: Forget it.  
FB: we cant back down now!  
CS: Before we lose track of the conversation…  
FB: well win and evry1 will worship us as heroes!  
CS: Excuse me  
FB: and then  
MV: ALFRED LET JAPAN TALK NOW

For a moment, the memo was idle. Prussia realized that America was actually listening to his brother. Weird, but not as weird as Canada yelling.

CS: Thank you, Canada-san.  
CS: As I mentioned, Korea-kun had some information on the game. He mentioned something called ‘God Tier’.  
FB: what? theres only 1 God  
 _paprikaRebellion responded to memo: Group 2_  
PR: America, let’s not start on religion. It’s just a term.  
FB: but its insulting!  
MV: Alfred…  
FB: shuttin up  
CS: I am not sure what it means, but if the name is anything to judge by, it is important.  
BS: Wait, so Korea didn’t explain, and you didn’t think to ask?  
 _clockworkSamurai ceased responding to the memo_  
BS: I’m taking that as a yes.  
PR: Be nice, Gilbert.  
 _balticTechnician responded to memo: Group 2_  
BT: Good news, then. We’ve got everyone in.  
PR: Yeah, but think about it, we left so many people behind…  
BW: Yes…Romania, Bulgaria, my brothers…  
PC: If only I had thought to invite Taiwan and Macau…  
BS: So many …’s  
PR: I can’t tell if you’re trying to lighten the mood or if you’re making fun of us, but stop.  
BS: Well, excuse me for trying to make a joke.  
MV: Guys, I got a message from Iceland.  
FB: why ice contactin u?  
MV: I’m going to ignore you if you continue to use that shorthand.  
FB: ignore me then  
MV: He’s panicking. He can’t get ahold of Denmark or Norway, and Sweden isn't responding to messages.   
MV: I think he’s worried that something terrible happened to them.  
BW: Is he okay?  
MV: I think. He said he’s not sure if he should try to take the next gate or just stay put.  
MV: Apparently Group 2 have all made it to their first gate.  
FB: wat? theyre winning!  
BW: That is the least of our concerns right now!  
MV: Iceland wants to know if anyone has heard from Denmark or Norway.  
BW: I haven’t heard from anyone in Group 2.  
PR: Same.  
BS: I think Korea and Iceland are the only ones who have cross-contacted.  
FB: is that a thing now  
BS: I guess.  
MV: Okay, I’ll let him know.  
PR: I think we've discussed all we have for now.  
BS: What?  
PR: We’re done.  
PC: I’ll close the memo until further notice. From now on, if anyone needs to talk to everybody at once, use the memos, and if you want them to be shielded from the eyes of Group 2, block them all before opening the memo.  
 _pandaCulinarian closed memo: Group 2_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Group 1:  
> AF: Liechtenstein/Lili Zwingli (autumnFlower)  
> AG: Switzerland/Basch (Sebastian) Zwingli (alpineGuardian)  
> BS: Prussia/Gilbert Beilschmidt (beilschmidtSuckerpunch)  
> BT: Lithuania/ Toris Laurinaitas (balticTechnician)  
> BW: England/ Arthur Kirkland (britishWizard)  
> CM: Seychelles/ Victorie (caribbeanMermaid)  
> CS: Japan/ Kiku Honda (clockworkSamurai)  
> FB: America/Alfred Jones (freedomBurger)  
> FS: Greece/ Heracles Karpusi (felineSomniatic)  
> GN: Belarus/ Natalia Arlovskaya (gracefulNightshade)  
> KM: Germany/ Ludwig Beilschmidt (kuchenMechanic)  
> MV: Canada/ Matthew Williams (mapleVeranda)  
> PC: China/ Yao Wang (pandaCulinarian)  
> PG: Italy/ Feliciano Vargas (pastaGondolier)  
> PP: Romano/ Lovino Vargas (pizzaPiazza)  
> PR: Hungary/ Elizaveta Hedervary (paprikaRebellion)  
> TA: Spain/ Antonio Carriedo (tomatoArmada_  
> VL: France/ Francis Bonnefoy (vineyardLover)  
> VV: Austria/ Roderich Edelstein (vienneseVirtuoso)
> 
>  
> 
> Group 2:  
> KF: South Korea/Im Yong Soo (kimchiGamer)  
> MO: Turkey/ Sadiq Adnan (maskedOttoman)  
> VB: Denmark/Mathias Køhler (vikingBerserker)   
> Norway/ Lukas  
> Monaco/Mona 
> 
> God Tiers:  
> Monaco: Seer of Light
> 
> Lands:  
> LOBAG: Land of Books and Glasses (Monaco)  
> LOTAC: Land of Teal and Cages (Denmark)


	3. Chapter 3

While Hungary was waiting for Liechtenstein to finish building her house up—or, down, as it just so happened that the gate was far below and quite a ways away from the house—her cell phone beeped in her pocket. With a sigh, Hungary sat on the Alchemiter and flipped open her phone.

 

_arsenicCatnip began trolling paprikaRebellion_

AC: :33< *ac rubs up against pr’s legs and purrs in a furendly manner*

PR: Excuse me?

AC::33< *ac hops into pr’s lap and falls asleep*

AC::33<*then wakes up beclaws she has something to talk to pr about*

PR: I’m sorry, but…what are you doing?

AC: :33< i was roleplaying!!

AC::33< don’t you have roleplaying on earth?

PR: Oh! Yes, but I rarely participated.

AC: :33< but you wrote fanfiction right?

PR: How…did you know?

AC: :33< beclaws your timeline is available for reading at any time!

AC::33< although mostly i just focused on the recent purrarts.

PR: What’s a purrart?

AC::33< it was a cat pun!

AC::33< purrart=part

PR: Oh! I get it now.

PR: I guess I should have guessed before, huh?

AC::33< it’s okay!

AC::33< but that’s not what i wanted to talk to you about.

PR: What was it?

AC::33<your relationships!

AC::33<now that i get to chat with you, i can update my shipping wall and make it more accurate!

PR: Shipping wall?

AC::33< of course!

AC::33< i take special interest in your group beclaws there are so many of you.

AC::33< how am i supposed to ship all of you?

AC::33< it’s the ultimate shipper’s challenge!

PR: You’re definitely enthusiastic about this!

PR: I can’t guarantee that I’ll have all the answers, but what about me do you a want to know?

AC::33< mostly i’m confused about one thing.

AC::33< what is your relationship with the one you call austria?

AC::33< i can’t tell if you are meowrails or matesprits!

PR: What are meowrails and matesprits?

AC::33< oh yeah! i furgot! you humans have a diffurent clawncept of romance.

AC::33< in a nutshell, meowrails are people who keep you sane.

AC::33< but they are also the person who sees your faults and tries to help you impurrove!

AC::33< at the same time, they recognize your good traits.

AC::33< both partners have to do this if the meowrailship is to work out.

AC::33< matesprits are more like your human version of romance.

AC::33< there are other types of romance, too!

AC::33< a kismesis is someone you hate, but you’re still attracted to!

AC::33< and a auspistice is someone who keeps a relationship from becoming a full-on kismesiship, to purrotect the two people and to purrserve peace!

AC::33< but humans only have one type of romance, so it might not make much sense.

PR: No, it’s fine.

PR: I think the only confusing thing is the auspistice.

PR: But honestly, I don’t know how to answer your question.

PR: I mean, I think Austria sees my faults especially, and tries to curb them.

PR: I changed a lot for him when we got married.

AC::33< married?

PR: It’s when two people join together as…matesprits, I guess. It means you’ll be with them forever, and no one else is allowed to pursue you as a matesprit.

PR: Not that that always works…

AC::33< so you and austria are matesprits?

PR: We used to be…

PR: We were married because our bosses told us to do so.

PR: On Austria’s side, I know it was for protection.

PR: But I really admired him, and I did love him. I changed a lot so I could be the perfect wife.

PR: But he never really reciprocated. I thought maybe he was just caught up in politics.

PR: Then after the first world war, we divorced, but I still loved him.

PR: Still DO love him.

PR: I don’t know what he thinks.

AC::33< that doesn’t sound like a very happy relationship.

AC::33< well, what about purrussia?

PR: Gilbert?

AC::33< who’s gilbert?

PR: That’s Prussia’s human name.

AC::33< human name?

PR: Well, we’re all actually countries.

PR: Sometimes, when we wanted to walk among our citizens without being recognized as a country, we would use regular human names.

PR: It was England’s idea.

PR: At first, it was just a formality, and we continued to call each other by our real names.

PR: But over time, we got attached to our human names, and it became a show of affection.

PR: Some people just call everyone human names, and others, like Japan, feel it is extremely improper to do so, and refuse to be called by their human names except by a few close friends.

PR: When someone allows everyone to call them by their human name, it’s a very bad insult to tell someone that they aren’t allowed to.

PR: That’s how it was with me and Romania.

PR: I guess he was kind of like my kismesis, but not really.

AC::33< wait, romania?

AC::33<omgomgomgomgomgomg

PR: Are you okay?

AC::33< no way…

PR: What? What’s the matter?

AC::33< never mind. back to purrussia!

PR: But

AC::33< change of topic!

PR: Fine.

PR: Gilbert is sort of a childhood frenemy.

PR: He always hated Austria, and he was always teasing me as a child.

PR: Come to think of it, though, there’s a lot of material that he hasn’t used to blackmail me yet, so I don’t think he held a grudge against me for marrying his rival.

PR: He wanted me to be happy.

PR: He can just be so frustrating sometimes!

AC::33< so you like him?

PR: No! Not in the way you’re implying!

AC::33< are you sure? you don’t seem sure!

PR: How would you know? I’m typing!  
AC::33< i’m rogue of heart! it’s my job to know these things!

AC::33< i can steal into people’s souls and read the feeling that even they are unaware of!

AC::33< and then i use it to bring people together so they can be happy!

PR: But isn’t that sort of personal?

AC::33< i don’t do it all the time.

PR: Well, please stop doing it this time!

AC::33< why? are you hiding something?

PR: I just feel sort of violated, I guess.

AC::33< alright, i guess that makes sense.

AC::33< anyway, i need to update my shipping wall!

AC::33< *ac flicks her tail in good-bye*

PR: Wait!  
AC::33< *ac waits*

PR: I’m sorry, but you seemed so much nicer than the other trolls. I was wondering, what’s your name?

AC::33< my name is nepeta!

PR: Nepeta? That’s a pretty name!

PR: So are you a girl then?

AC::33< yep!

PR: Well, my name is Elizaveta. But you can call me Liz or Lizzie or Eliza for short!

AC::33< okay! i’ll call you elizapeta! it goes with my catpuns!

PR:…I guess that’s okay?

AC::33< *ac purrs one final time and hops down from pr’s lap, slinking away*

PR: Good-bye!

 

_arsenicCatnip ceased trolling paprikaRebellion_

 

Hungary’s phone began to ring just as Nepeta signed off.

“Miss Hungary? I think I’ve built enough to carry you safely to your gate.”

“Thanks a lot, Lili! And hey, you don’t have to be so formal! Just call me Liz!”

“Big Brother says it’s impolite to call people by their first name,” Liechtenstein said.

“You don’t always have to listen to Basch, Lili! Have a little fun!”

“But Big Brother said—“

“Okay, okay, fine. Thanks again!”

Hungary hung up and sighed, then laughed. _Oh, Basch,_ she thought. He was a great guy, but he seriously needed to lighten up sometimes.

 

**~Be Switzerland~**

 

His house had come with him apparently, because even though he was sure he’d left it behind when he’d crossed through the gate, there it was, surrounded by the beautiful garden that held so many memories.

Here he was, in the Land of Mines and Mountains, cautiously not moving for fear of tripping a mine and blowing himself to bits. The surrounding mountains might look like the Alps, but that didn’t mean the mines were in the same places as they were back home.

Switzerland had to admit, though, that France had worked fast. There had been no dillydallying on his part, no sidetracking, unless there was a pressing situation with the imps or he had been catching up with Jeanne.

Liechtenstein had been busy building for Hungary, and Switzerland had spent his time protecting her so she could do that. Perhaps until he’d figured out the position of the mines, he should monitor her.

He looked up above his house. Another gate sat there. He wasn’t sure where it led to, or if gates worked both ways, but he wasn’t taking any chances.

Switzerland climbed to his roof and positioned himself so as to have the best view of the gate. He aimed his rifle at the glowing green shape and waited.

 

**~Be Belarus~**

 

There had been no initial need for Belarus to have her house built up. When she had entered the game, her house had bypassed the black void that held most of her teammates, and had landed in the Land of Knives and Icicles. Every step could lead to impalement, whether on artificial or natural objects. A sudden noise could dislodge a hanging weapon or spear of frozen water from the eaves of the buildings and rocky crevices that dotted her world.

She was a master of staying completely still until movement was required. Her only dilemma was keeping her aura in check; the deadly objects were extremely susceptible to slipping.

It would have been safer to stay inside, but Belarus was anxious to continue. The sooner this game progressed, the sooner she could see Russia again. And she needed some imps to slay in revenge, even if it wouldn’t bring her sister back.

 

**~Be Hungary~**

After jumping through the gate, the smell was the first thing that hit her. Spices of every kind, and floral and edible aromas wafted to her, all at once. Yet it wasn’t unpleasant; they sort of separated after a while, and then she could only smell her favourite ones. Paprika, lavender, lemon…there were many more, some she couldn’t even name.

And, suspended in clouds of smoke that were the source of all the scents, were frogs. Lots and lots of frogs, all just sitting there. Hungary wasn’t sure if they were living or dead, but she was vaguely bothered by them. She wanted to organize them.

A title appeared in front of Hungary’s eyes: Land of Scent and Frogs.

_Okay,_ Hungary thought. _That’s a bit weird_.

She turned around a saw her house sitting peacefully in a meadow, surrounded by her gardens and the trees that provided shade. There was a swing attached to one of them. As she watched, a smoke cloud carried a frog past it.

There was gate in the ground by her house, with nothing but low grass growing around it. It had changed colour from green to yellow. Nearby were many more empty circles of grass, looking as if they were waiting for a gate to open.

Hungary cautiously approached the gate. A dialogue box popped up: Land of Tune and Monochrom.

The dialogue box seemed to have run out of characters; surely, there should be an “e” on the end of monochrome? Hungary shrugged it off. The minute she stepped away from the gate, though, the caption vanished.

 

“Well,” she muttered to herself, “this could be a problem.” If more gates appeared, and she needed to get to one quickly, she couldn’t just stand by each gate checking the dialogue boxes.

 

A thought occurred to her. In a flash, she had run into the house and to her craft room, grabbed some paint and paintbrushes, then rushed down to her wood pile and dug out the boards she kept in case of a building emergency or a lack of heating. She painted a rectangular piece white and then carefully stenciled on the words “Land of Tune and Monochrome” in pink. She left a small space for any further details she might need to add. Then she located her wood glue and a long piece of wood, wittled down the bottom of the post, and glued the other end to the rectangle. When it had dried, she hopped up and returned to the gate. With care, she forced the sign into the ground near the gate and stepped back to admire her handywork.

 

It was a bit lopsided where she’d glued it on wrong, but it would serve its purpose. She wiped some sawdust off her hands and absent-mindedly watched another frog float by 20 yards away.

 

In the distance, she saw a large metal factory. At least, Hungary assumed it was a factory. It had smokestacks, but nothing was coming out of them. This vaguely worried Hungary.

 

_vienneseVirtuoso began pestering paprikaRebellion_

VV: Elizaveta, I have crossed through my gate. Are you still paying attention?

PR: Yes, of course, Roderich. Sorry, I was distracted.

VV: So you were not paying attention.

PR: It’s sort of hard when there are floating frogs all around me.

VV: …

PR: So what’s it like?

PR: Did you get a message saying “Land of Somethin and Somethin Else?”

VV: As a matter of fact, yes. “Land of Tune and Monochrome”.

PR: Really?!

VV: Yes. Is that surprising?

PR: I have a gate that says it leads to LOTAM!

VV: Lotam?

PR: Sorry, I didn’t want to have to type it all out.

PR: Hold on, I’ll be right there.

VV: Wait, no

_paprikaRebellion ceased pestering vienneseVirtuoso_

VV: That’s not

VV: Hm

VV: That girl needs to slow down.

 

_vienneseVirtuoso ceased pestering paprikaRebellion_

**~ Be Denmark~**

He cracked one eye open and closed it quickly again; it was simply too bright. Everywhere around Denmark, there was shining golden-yellow, just waiting to blind him. He hadn’t moved an inch.

 

Finally, he forced himself to open his eyes and keep them open. They watered and stung, but after a while, the glare seemed to lessen.

 

Denmark was stiff from lying in the same position for who knew how long; he cracked his legs, his knuckles, his wrist, his back, his arms, his toes, he even reached up and cracked his neck, all with his eyes wandering around the room he found himself in.

 

It was exactly identical to his own room back home, except the walls and furniture were golden. Denmark stretched his arms out in front of him like a cat a froze.

 

He wasn’t wearing his trenchcoat anymore. Instead, he had on a longsleeved, burgundy tunic and brown pants that were tucked up as if they had been tailored for him, with matching shoes and—was that a hood on his head? And a cape, too, both brown. Denmark looked down and saw the symbol from his Quest Bed emblazoned on his chest.

 

“What the hell?” He pushed the hood down and stood up, inspecting the new garments. “Is this…?”

 

Denmark’s face split in a grin. He’d done it. He’d reached God Tier. Somehow, he knew what he was: the Knight of Blood.

 

“Yeah!” He jumped up and whooped, then proceeded to do a dorky little happy dance. As he pranced by the window, he froze.

 

There was someone looking at him.

 

That someone was floating.

 

Outside a window that was way far up in the air.

 

That someone was very well-known to Denmark.

 

That someone was Sweden.

 

For a minute, the two just stared at each other, Denmark with a guilty/horrified look on his face, Sweden with…well, his usual expression. Then Denmark laughed uneasily and lunged for the window, shutting a bolting it in one fell swoop. When that was done, he slumped against the wall and made a small “eep” sound.

 

“What the hell was that?” he wondered. He had clearly seen Sweden floating. But that wasn’t possible. Was it? Denmark wasn’t sure what was true anymore.

 

**~Be Sealand~**

 

“Papa? Papa, wake up.”

 

Sealand nudged Sweden’s sleeping form. He was sitting on the floor where Sweden had passed out from sheer exhaustion, having not slept for 24 hours. Sealand had wanted his “papa” to get some rest, but not like this.

 

Sweden’s computer ‘pinged’ again. “Papa, Mama is trying to talk to you. Wake up.”

 

Sweden just snored once and turned over.

 

Sealand wanted to answer Finland’s messages, and maybe send a few of his own. But Sweden had put a password on his computer, so Sealand had to sit there, watching over his dad, and being driven slowly insane by the incessant pinging.

 

He was hungry, too, but he didn’t want to leave. There were still imps everywhere, and those weird lizard things. He had escaped the axolotl’s on his own world, but now there were these dragon things. Or gila monsters. Yes, that sounded about right.

 

Sealand hugged his knees to his chest and waited. If only he hadn’t lost his phone. He could be chatting with Latvia or Wy or Seborga or…

 

Wy and Seborga. They were gone now, weren’t they? And so was Kugelmugel, and Hutt River, and Molossia. Almost all his friends, just gone.

 

Why hadn’t they been invited? Seborga would have wanted to play, if only because Monaco was involved. Kugelmugel might have…but probably not. Wy, though. Wy would have said no, but she would have agreed eventually.

 

But right now, Sealand was bored. With nothing else to do, he amused himself with a silly dance, then flipping through books with words too big for him to understand, then finding a chess set and pushing the pieces around, pretending to be a military commander. No matter how loud he got, Sweden was still not waking up.

 

**~ Be CA~**

 

Again? You still cannot be CA.

 

**~Fine. Be TZ then~**

Also not an option.

 

**~Be Lady Rainicorn~**

 

Now you’re just being silly.

 

**~Be Nicholas Cage~**

You…

 

**~Be Captain Jack Sparrow~**

What are you doing.

 

**~Be Legolas~**

 

You.

 

**~Be The TARDIS~**

Stop.

 

**~Okay~**

 

That’s better.

 

**~Be Canada~**

America had yet to finish building up Canada’s house. Heck, he hadn’t really even started. It was really frustrating.

 

_centaursTesticle began trolling mapleVeranda_

CT: human

MV: what

CT: D-->  Oh

CT: D--> Are you in a bad mood

MV: Sort of. I’m just not really in the mood for this trolling right now.

CT: D--> This is not meant to bother you

MV: Then what is it? You never contact me unless you want to tell me what a waste of space I am.

MV: Frankly I have half a mind to just block you from now on.

CT: D--> That would be pointless

MV: Okay what is it?

MV: Just get it out.

MV: I’ve nothing else to do.

CT: D--> I know

CT: D--> You are ignored

MV: How do you know that?

CT: D--> Because  I can see it here

CT: D-->I am the only one who can still see you

MV: What, so Alfred just sort of forgot about me? 

MV: Do I not exist for him anymore?

CT: D--> I meant among us trolls

CT: D--> Your friends can still see you

CT: D--> They just choose to ignore you

MV: Thanks.

CT: D--> My pleasure

CT: D--> Wait that was sarcasm wasn’t it

MV: Your powers of deduction are truly astounding.

CT: D--> You seem different

CT: D--> I am talking to the right person right

MV: Sorry. I’m just really pissed at Alfred right now.

MV: He can be so selfish sometimes.

MV: And my best friend is dead now apparently.

MV: So…yeah…

CT: D--> Well please refrain from taking it out on me

MV: You’re right, I’m sorry.

CT: D-->But more to the point

CT: D--> There are no other patron trolls for you

CT: D--> You are on your own unless you will accept my help

MV: I’m sorry, but why should I trust you?

CT: D--> Because I am like you

CT: D--> I am also a Void player

CT: D--> And thus uniquely equipped to advise you on your a%tions

MV: Why do I need to be advised, exactly?

MV: You only ever tease me.

CT: D--> Yes but now I am offering an olive branch

CT: D--> We Void players are on our own

CT: D--> We are forgotten in the grand scheme of things

CT: D--> We work in the shadows and change the course of our team

CT: D--> There is never any thanks foal it

CT: D--> I mean for it

CT: D--> But we are uniquely equipped to handle it

CT: D--> You are not the only Void player, simply the most interesting

CT: D--> Perhaps because we are both Heirs

CT: D--> You must understand that this is a rare opportunity

MV: I fail to see this as an opportunity.

MV: And I really don’t know what you’re talking about. Heir? Void?

MV: It’s not making any sense.

MV: Thanks for trying, but I’m gonna leave now.

CT: D--> No wait

CT: D--> I am not very good at e%plaining things

CT: D--> So I will not attempt to e%plain

CT: D--> But I implore you to at least try to trust me

MV: Well…

MV: I guess.

MV: Who are the other Void players, whatever that means?

CT: D--> Greece and the one you call Switzerland

CT: D--> I do not understand why so many of you end your name in land

CT: D--> Or why you do not have names that follow a pattern

CT: D--> On Alternia we all had si%-letter first and last names

CT: D--> And the humans I have seen before all had four-letter first names

CT: D--> But there is no pattern for you and there are multiple names

CT: D--> It is e%cruciatingly difficult to remember

MV: Well would you rather call me Canada or Matthew?

CT: D--> I believe Canada will be easier to remember

MV: Okay, then you can call me Canada.

CT: D--> Is

CT: D--> Is that an order

MV: Um…no?

CT: D--> Oh

MV: Why would I order you around?

CT: D--> It would be highly inappropriate

CT: D--> Your symbol tells me that you are a mutant b100d

CT: D--> The lowest of the low

CT: D--> A mutant b100d should never order around a b100 b100d like myself

MV: Mutant blood?

MV: I’m fairly certain I have normal blood.

MV: Although I guess I’m not really a human, am I?

CT: D--> You are one of the few that I have deduced

CT: D--> So many of your friends have multiple colors on their symbols

CT: D--> It is like they are trying to disguise it

CT: D--> For e%ample, the one you call France

CT: D--> He has b100 on his symbol

CT: D--> But also a pinkish-red

CT: D--> So what is his b100d color

MV: This is really getting weird.

MV: Why do you care about his blood color?

MV: And of course it’s red. We all have red blood.

CT: D--> Oh

CT: D--> Well

MV: Look, I’m gonna go pester Alfred about building up my house, but thanks for the chat. It really passed the time.

CT: D--> You’re welcome

 

_centaursTesticle ceased trolling mapleVeranda_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Group 1:  
> AF: Liechtenstein/Lili Zwingli (autumnFlower)  
> AG: Switzerland/Basch (Sebastian) Zwingli (alpineGuardian)  
> BS: Prussia/Gilbert Beilschmidt (beilschmidtSuckerpunch)  
> BT: Lithuania/ Toris Laurinaitas (balticTechnician)  
> BW: England/ Arthur Kirkland (britishWizard)  
> CS: Japan/ Kiku Honda (clockworkSamurai)  
> FB: America/Alfred Jones (freedomBurger)  
> FS: Greece/ Heracles Karpusi (felineSomniatic)  
> GN: Belarus/ Natalia Arlovskaya (gracefulNightshade)  
> KM: Germany/ Ludwig Beilschmidt (kuchenMechanic)  
> MV: Canada/ Matthew Williams (mapleVeranda)  
> PC: China/ Yao Wang (pandaCulinarian)  
> PG: Italy/ Feliciano Vargas (pastaGondolier)  
> PP: Romano/ Lovino Vargas (pizzaPiazza)  
> PR: Hungary/ Elizaveta Hedervary (paprikaRebellion)  
> TA: Spain/ Antonio Carriedo (tomatoArmada_  
> VL: France/ Francis Bonnefoy (vineyardLover)  
> VV: Austria/ Roderich Edelstein (vienneseVirtuoso)
> 
>  
> 
> Group 2:  
> KF: South Korea/Im Yong Soo (kimchiGamer)  
> MO: Turkey/ Sadiq Adnan (maskedOttoman)  
> VB: Denmark/Mathias Køhler (vikingBerserker)  
> Norway  
> Monaco/Mona 
> 
> God Tiers:  
> Monaco: Seer of Light
> 
> Lands:  
> LOBAC: Land of Boats and Cauldrons (England)  
> LOBAG: Land of Books and Glasses (Monaco)  
> LOBAS: Land of Bells and Sunshine (Finland)  
> LOCAR: Land of Chimes and Rivers (Italy)  
> LOFAI: Land of Fire and Iron (Germany)  
> LOFAR: Land of Flavour and Roses (France)  
> LOSAF: Land of Scent and Frogs (Hungary)  
> LOGAA: Land of Geysers and Auroras (Iceland)  
> LOGAS: Land of Green and Sparkles (Norway)  
> LOKAI: Land of Knives and Icicles (Belarus)  
> LOLAP: Land of Lanterns and Plush (China)  
> LOMAD: Land of Moons and Deserts (Turkey)  
> LOMAM: Land of Mines and Mountains (Switzerland)  
> LONAS: Land of Night and Searchlights (Prussia)  
> LOOAI: Land of Ocean and Cannons (Sealand)  
> LORAF: Land of Ribbons and Flowers (Liechtenstein)  
> LOSAC: Land of Statues and Churches (Romano)  
> LOSAF: Land of Snow and Forests (Russia)  
> LOSAP: Land of Sand and Pyramids (Egypt)  
> LOSAS: Land of Stars and Stripes (America)  
> LOTAC: Land of Teal and Cages (Denmark)  
> LOTAM: Land of Tune and Monochrome (Austria)  
> LOTAS: Land of Tulips and Scarves (Netherlands)  
> LOTAT: Land of Tech and Tick-Tock (Japan)

**Author's Note:**

> Below is a list of characters and their chat abbreviations, along with their full chat name and their human name. I’ve also included the two lands that have been mentioned and the one God Tier. Group 2’s chat names are pending for the most part, and I’m open to suggestions on them.
> 
> I am aware that Seychelles is not in the Caribbean Sea, but for a username it sounded good.
> 
> Group 1:  
> BS: Prussia/Gilbert Beilschmidt (beilschmidtSuckerpunch)  
> BT: Lithuania/ Toris Laurinaitas (balticTechnician)  
> BW: England/ Arthur Kirkland (britishWizard)  
> CM: Seychelles/ Victorie (caribbeanMermaid)  
> CS: Japan/ Kiku Honda (clockworkSamurai)  
> FB: America/Alfred Jones (freedomBurger)  
> FS: Greece/ Heracles Karpusi (felineSomniatic)  
> GN: Belarus/ Natalia Arlovskaya (gracefulNightshade)  
> KM: Germany/ Ludwig Beilschmidt (kuchenMechanic)  
> MV: Canada/ Matthew Williams (mapleVeranda)  
> PC: China/ Yao Wang (pandaCulinarian)  
> PG: Italy/ Feliciano Vargas (pastaGondolier)  
> PP: Romano/ Lovino Vargas (pizzaPiazza)  
> PR: Hungary/ Elizaveta Hedervary (paprikaRebellion)  
> TA: Spain/ Antonio Carriedo (tomatoArmada_  
> VL: France/ Francis Bonnefoy (vineyardLover)  
> VV: Austria/ Roderich Edelstein (vienneseVirtuoso)
> 
>  
> 
> Group 2:  
> VB: Denmark/Mathias Køhler (vikingBerserker)  
> Norway  
> Monaco/Mona 
> 
> God Tiers:  
> Monaco: Seer of Light
> 
> Lands:  
> LOBAG: Land of Books and Glasses (Monaco)  
> LOTAC: Land of Teal and Cages (Denmark)


End file.
